Costa Rica: Economic activity growth accelerates in January
In January, year-on-year growth in economic activity accelerated to 3.6%, up from December’s revised 3.3% expansion (previously reported: +3.5%), according to the monthly index of economic activity (IMAE, Indice Mensual de Actividad Económica) published by the Central Bank of Costa Rica (BCCR).
January’s result was driven by an increase in activity in the services sector. In particular, the sub-sectors of professional services, and education and healthcare services, both contributed significantly to growth in January. The manufacturing sector also grew at a robust rate in January, bolstered by increased production of food products such as pineapple juice, cotton yarn, iron manufactures and goods generally destined for export.
In month-on-month terms, the growth rate in economic activity decelerated to 0.37% in January from a revised 0.47% in December (previously reported: +0.52% month-on-month). Meanwhile, year-on-year average growth remained steady at December’s revised 3.0% in January (previously reported: +3.1% year-on-year).